Homogenization...

I fell in love with San Antonio years ago and long before I ever moved here. In fact my first visit to San Antonio was while I was a college student in Austin. Austin was an up and coming city in the early and mid-80s, but for some reason I never became enamored with Austin the year that I lived there. But I remember falling in love with San Antonio the first time I visited. San Antonio has such a distinctive flavor that I've always been drawn to. There's the history which not only includes the Alamo but the other Missions as well which date back to the 1600s. We have a rich German heritage as well which originates from a large influx of Germans to the Texas Hill Country in the mid-1800s. San Antonio has an annual two week long Fiesta every spring and some type of Wurst Fest every Fall. What a wonderful juxtaposition of cultures that we have here in San Antonio! Where else in America do you have streets named Culebra, Zarzamora, and Bandera located near streets named Marbach, Jones-Maltsberger, and Fredricksburg? My favorite park is named after one of San Antonio's most successful German families, the Friedrich family. I guess what I'm getting at is that I think that San Antonio has a unique flavor all its own which I hope that it retains.

So far in extolling the praises of San Antonio, I neglected to mention our famous Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is most beautiful around the holidays with all the holiday lights. But this year, one could say that this is probably the last year that the Riverwalk will be a unique treasure. You see, there's a bit of a controversy brewing here in San Antonio regarding our wonderful Riverwalk. For years and years the Riverwalk has been occupied for the most part by locally owned businesses and restaurants which gave it its uniqueness. And yes Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants have been quite ubiquitous on the Riverwalk, but there are others as well like the locally owned Hunan Garden which I've eaten at several times. Over the last several years there's been a gradual change in the types of restaurants on the Riverwalk. I'm talking about the national chain restaurants. First it was the Hard Rock Cafe that bought out a local owner, next came Planet Hollywood as well as others until now we've hit a turning point and controversy. The Hunan Garden owners as well as the owners of another building with several tenants have been made offers that they feel they can't refuse...and by whom? Landry's seafood and Salt Grass steakhouse. Now don't get me wrong here. I'm all for free enterprise and these local owners must do what's best for them. But the Riverwalk is in danger and many locals like me are concerned and upset too. How will and can the Riverwalk be anything special when the majority of the shops and restaurants are some-type of chain that you can visit in any other city in America? In my view, the Riverwalk is in very real danger of becoming homogenized. We're in danger of losing our unique flavor. Why would anyone want to visit here if everything is just like back home? It doesn't make sense.

Really the impending homogenization of the Riverwalk is happening everywhere in America too. It isn't just a problem in San Antonio, but I fear it's a problem in every city in America. I've lived in lots of cities and several states in my 44 years, and in the last 10 years especially I've seen this homogenization increasing at an alarming rate. It's seems that all our cities and towns are beginning to look alike with the same proliferation of businesses in each town. I think what probably started out as a good idea has now become a runaway train. In the beginning it was kinda nice for travelers to find similar businesses from town to town. It can be comforting and uniting. But at the risk of sounding overly dramatic....America is becoming homogenized in a Stepford kind of way. And I think it's both scary and sad. I suppose in a very real way, McDonalds is responsible for giving birth to this phenomenon.

I'm all for free enterprise and I certainly don't want anyone forced to stay out of the Riverwalk or other tourist spots. Although I don't know maybe it would be nice to make some places off limits. I'll have to think on that. Really though I'm not sure what the answer is though. I would like to think that the free enterprise system will work itself out...meaning that all this homogenization will hit a critical mass to where the consumer becomes sick of it which results in some kind of consumer backlash. I know I feel oversaturated by the chains...and yes I do visit some of them...it's near impossible not to.

I've lived here for over six years and am so glad that I had the opportunity to enjoy the city that I fell in love with over 20 years ago. I may move away one day and San Antonio may become homogenized before I do, but I'll have my memories and experiences. And that's something, isn't it?